EDLS IS 2015 CCJ MOOTING CHAMPION
The Eugene Dupuch Law School is the 2015 winner of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) International Law Moot Competition. The winning team comprised of Lowrell Edgecombe, Krisspin Sands and Crystal Newman. Team advisor was Carla D. Card-Stubbs. This is the 4th time in the competition’s 7-year history that the Bahamian Law School has bested its CARICOM counterparts to take top honours. On March 13 this year, eight teams participated: the Eugene Dupuch Law School of The Bahamas, the FHR-Lim A Po School of Law of Suriname, the Hugh Wooding Law School of Trinidad & Tobago, the Norman Manley Law School of Jamaica as well as the Faculties of Law of the University of Technology of Jamaica, the University of Guyana and the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados and St Augustine, Trinidad. The Caribbean Court of Justice’s Annual International Law Moot Court Competition was inaugurated in March 2009 to build greater awareness of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC). Competitors mooted a treaty-related brief before the Honourable Messrs. Justice Nelson, Wit and Hayton, sitting judges of the court. The CCJ is an international court and the only Court with the authority to interpret the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
In his opening remarks, The Rt. Honourable Sir Dennis Byron, President of the CCJ, spoke of his personal interest in the moot, “because of all the wonderful potential inherent in it for fostering a deeper knowledge of and familiarity with the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. It also engages the younger attorneys in the business of the CSME, which represents, of course, investment of their intellectual capital in this ambitious plan for regional social and economic development.”
In announcing the Eugene Dupuch Law School as the winner of the competition, Hon. Mr. Justice Hayton, presiding judge, commended Ms. Edgecombe and Mr. Sands for the competence with which they made their submissions and handled hard questions from the court. The judges applauded the team for their use of the various presentation tools available at the multimedia lectern of the CCJ’s courtroom and recommended that other teams look at EDLS’s skeleton arguments which represented a good model of how skeleton arguments were to be drafted. Justice Mr. Hayton added that undoubtedly the young advocates faced bright futures as successful attorneys.
Reflecting on the team’s victory, team leader and senior advocate, Lowrell Edgecombe, said, “It was indeed an honor to stand before such esteemed judges at the Caribbean Court of Justice and to receive commendable remarks about each member of the team. One of our strengths as a team, namely the time spent researching and critiquing one another, really paid off in the way we were able to advocate and in turn respond to the judges’ questions and continue with our submissions. I really enjoyed the experience in working as a team along with having an amazing advisor.” Junior advocate, Krisspin Sands, added, “”The CCJ experience was phenomenal. Being afforded the opportunity to present submissions before judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice was indeed an honour. The CCJ moot experience demonstrated that with hard work, determination and perseverance, anything is achievable.” Commenting on the experience, researcher, Crystal Newman said, “It was an honour and privilege to have an opportunity to appear before the judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice. It was an unforgettable experience. With the guidance of our advisor, we applied ourselves, worked hard, remained dedicated and won the gold. Thank you to everyone for their prayers and support. “Veni, vidi, vici” (We came, we saw, we conquered.)” Mrs. Card-Stubbs, team advisor, commended the team for the hard work that they put in and observed that their performance in court was outstanding. She said that the advocates were “masterful in their articulation of the issues and the law”.
In the court to witness the competition were the Commissioners of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission, His Honour Anthony D.J. Gafoor, Chairman of the Tax Appeal Board, Mme. Justice Desiree Bernard, former CCJ Judge, His Excellency Dr. Lutz Görgens, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, His Excellency Fernando Schmidt, Ambassador of Chile and Dr. E. Monica Davis, Honorary Consul for The Bahamas.
Second place was awarded to the team from the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica. The team from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine was awarded a special prize for “Best Team from an Academic Institution”.